I’ve been a columnist for the Times, Sunday Times and Big Issue and written for most nationals. Highlights include: revisiting New Orleans a year after Hurricane Katrina, getting wet in Venice to understand why it’s really sinking and co-piloting a tiny plane around New Zealand. In 2016 I was Highly Commended by BSME as Columnist of the Year. I was the Sunday Times magazine's much-loved BarrFly from 2014-2017. From 2008 -2018 I was Literary Editor of Soho House. From 2017-2020, I wrote about a column about books and places for High Life magazine called 'Novel Destinations'. Recently I’ve raged against AI in the Independent and talked about what it means to adapt your work in The Author.
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Sometimes you’re chopping onions and hear my voice in your kitchen. That’s because I’m often on Radio 4. For a time, I hosted Front Row - Dolly Parton, Javier Marías and Brad Pitt were among my favourite guests.
In 2023 I hosted ‘Whose Truth Is It Anyway?’ A three-part series considering the truth we (don’t) tell in memoir, fiction and autofiction. I’ve also made several stand-alone documentaries. In 2021, I hosted my own series for BBC Radio called ‘Guide Books’, which considered how books might help us with the messy business of living. Our themes included The Body and Grief and our guests included Sarah Perry and Helen Macdonald. It was a pleasure to discuss books on radio in a much more intimate way sharing our lives, writing and reading in the context of the wider world.
In 2019 I brought books back to telly as the creator and host of ‘The Big Scottish Book Club’ on BBC Scotland and iPlayer celebrating writers from throughout Scotland, across the UK and around the world. Now in its fifth series!
The show was immediately recommissioned and is now one of several brilliant book shows on TV. Guests so far include Neil Gaiman, Colson Whitehead and Maggie O’Farrell. The show, produced by IWC, is now syndicated worldwide and in 2023 we made our fifth series! During lockdown, I also hosted ‘Shelf Isolation’ on BBC Scotland and iPlayer with guests including Alan Cumming and Lorraine Kelly. In 2021, I presented the landmark documentary about Sir Walter Scott for his 250th birthday. I’m working on another documentary now.
Thank you for all your support and for reading!